LEARN TO LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

THE WORLD COMMUNITY
FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION
FRIENDS IN MEDITATION
Share your story;
let us know how
Christian Meditation
has changed your
life.
Please click here
Join Our Mailing List
Email:
FROM THE HEART
    ‘A Home-Coming Experience’
    Written by Serena Woon, S.F.O, with interviews done by Irene and Joseph
    Phun - August 2006

    In declaring open the John Main Seminar 2006 at the Naza Hotel from 10th
    to 13th August, Fr. Fabian Dicom, the Chancellor of the Penang Diocese,
    acknowledged the work of the late Dom John Main, a Benedictine monk, in
    bringing the Church to a greater awareness of the practice of meditation
    which is a form of contemplative prayer without words, thoughts or
    images.  It is deeply rooted in our Christian tradition.

    Fr. John Main first learnt the practice of Meditation in the mid 50s of the last
    century through his contact with Swami Satyananda, the founder of an
    orphanage and ashram in Kuala Lumpur.  Since then he has taught
    thousands of people in the world the path of silence and stillness into the
    Kingdom within.  Today there are communities of meditators who meet
    weekly in homes, hospitals, offices or churches in more than 60 countries.  
    After his death in 1982, an annual seminar is conducted in his memory.

    This is the first time this Seminar is held in Malaysia.  It is a precious time
    of grace and homecoming for more than 240 participants from 23
    countries.  Pauline Peters from Australia, as Chairperson of the Guiding
    Board for this World Community for Christian Meditation remarked that this
    is the largest number of participating countries since the conception of the
    John Main Seminar in 1983.  

    This year’s seminar entitled “The Fire of Silence through music and
    mystics” is led by Margaret Rizza a composer of recent renown.  She has
    taught singing at the Guildhall School for Music and Drama, London, for 17
    years, but began the work of composing only about 10 years ago.  She said
    that she is “a late developer” because she seemed to discover more of her
    talents late in life.

    During this short span of the discovery of her talent at composing
    contemplative music she has produced 20 CDs and recently her piece on
    mystical experience has become the number one classic FM in the United
    Kingdom.  Fr. Laurence Freeman, OSB, who is now the Spiritual Director of
    the World Community for Christian Meditation, said that the theme of this
    Seminar “The Fire of Silence through music and mystics” is very
    appropriate – “just at the right time and right place”.  

    Margaret, a simple and unassuming lady often said that she was “without
    talents”.  Yet her talks were inspiring and enriching.  In her sharing she
    said that prayer for her was a great struggle and the life of mystics like
    Julian of Norwich, St. John of the Cross and Meister Eckhart encouraged
    her because she saw in them an “extraordinary understanding of prayer”
    and they “prayed even when dry” and that helped her to persevere in her
    spiritual path.  

    Two events led Margaret to her heart conversion – Christian Meditation and
    a 6-day silent retreat in Wales.  She said that she experienced a “joyful
    thriving in her ego on the outside, but deep within she was grieving”.  This
    inner “grieving” eventually led her to the London Meditation centre where
    she met Fr. Laurence Freeman and learnt the practice of Christian
    Meditation which to her was a home-coming experience.   Later during the
    silent retreat, she was led to love Scripture.   She said, “A metamorphosis
    took place.”

    She saw how competitive life at the Music School was, and began to
    dedicate herself to the work of spirituality.  She discovered that music has
    a power of healing.  It brings love and compassion to people who are
    starved physically and spiritually, consolation to the dying and bonding of
    people in a community.  Her music, drawing from her readings of mystics
    and Scripture, helped her to enter into the deepest part of her being, into
    the mystery of God.  Margaret is now embarking into composing music for
    palliative care, for forgiveness and healing.  It was her personal experience
    of silence into music and music into silence that found expression in her
    works of compassion for people around her.  She also emphasised that
    this kind of contemplative music will help the youths to “get off the hook
    from the loud noise culture”.

    John Wong from Australia said that he is much enlightened by what
    Margaret shared as he has now begun to appreciate music which helps
    him to enter more easily into silence.  Like John Wong, many participants
    found that this Seminar is stimulating and greatly helped them to persevere
    in Meditation.  Grace Foo, a meditator from the group at the Holy Spirit
    Cathedral in Penang commented rather candidly that she always found the
    half hour period of meditation rather long, but now at this Seminar, the
    meditation sessions seemed short!

    One may think that this Seminar is for serious folks who are rather dumb
    about enjoyment of life in this world.  This is proved wrong at the Cultural
    Night when the participants ‘let down their hair’ and playfulness and much
    laughter filled the air at the Naza Ballroom.  A dance troupe invited by the
    organizing committee performed five Malaysian cultural dances which
    delighted everyone.  Sr. Mary Clara Antoni, I.J., from Kuala Lumpur said that
    the dances were truly reflective of the richness of the Malaysian multi-
    cultural society.  At the end of their performance the dancers invited the
    audience to ‘joget’ with them, including Fr. Laurence Freeman!  When our
    local cultural dances were over, there were skits and songs from other
    countries.  It was an evening of joy and fun.  Fr. Tan Thian Sing and his
    counterparts from Indonesia “really enjoyed the Cultural night”.  Fr.
    Laurence remarked that meditation, a serious work of the soul, makes one
    better able to respond fittingly to life when the occasion arises.

    The Seminar closed with two symbolic rituals at the Sunday Eucharistic
    Celebration on 13th August.  At the presentation of gifts representatives
    from the 23 participating countries offered the freshness of their work of
    meditation by bringing up little bouquets of flowers and laid them around
    the Easter candle.   At the end of Mass they were given candles and the
    light from the Easter Candle was passed from one representative to
    another as a sign of the commissioning of Christ to take His light back to
    their own countries.  The other participants were then invited to come up to
    bless themselves reverently from these lighted candles – symbolic, yet so
    meaningful and appropriate for this occasion.

    Sr. Mary Kay Mc Nelis, SSJ, in summing up her experience at this JMS 2006
    said that she is returning to Pennsylvania, USA with the conviction that she
    has to continue to share the contemplative dimension of prayer with her
    fellow sisters and friends.  This will give a deep meaning to the evangelizing
    and social work that the SSJs are doing.  

    Matthew Campbell from Ireland, Sr. Mary Clara Antoni from Kuala Lumpur
    and Fr. Tan from Indonesia were among the many who were much
    impressed by the smooth-running of the whole programme and the warm
    hospitality they enjoyed.  Matthew from Ireland was “quite taken in” by ‘the
    calmness of the Malaysian working committee’ in this mammoth task of
    hosting not only this Seminar and also organized the 3-day Pre-Seminar
    Silent Retreat at Stella Maris.

    The working committee of Malaysia attributed this to the fruit of
    meditation.   But Serena Woon, who is in the committee, admitted that there
    were times when they experienced tensions that made them “fly off their
    handles at silly trivial”.   She added that Fr. Laurence Freeman O.S.B. who
    led the Retreat had reminded them all that there is this dark side of every
    human being – the demon – that is ever present, and we are often trying to
    “battle with this shadow side of ourselves”.  Through the practice of
    Meditation we do not try to “destroy this dark side, but to reintegrate it with
    the self”.  This is the work of meditation, finding harmony in the soul –
    which is the theme of the 3-day Silent Retreat, attended by 180
    participants.  

    In his Conferences, Fr. Laurence Freeman explored this important theme by
    looking at the work of the 5 great prophets of Islam as found in the Koran –
    Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohamed.  It is a paradox that the 3
    sister religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – which have a common
    passionate love for one God, show hate for one another.  This he said is the
    danger of passionate love for it has its shadow side – jealousy,
    possessiveness, and exclusivity.   The soul that longs for harmony is
    challenged by this inner conflict.  The work of meditation can change these
    negative patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour because it leads the
    person to self knowledge through the experience of grace.  Through self
    knowledge the person learns to accept the free gift of being and thus will
    not be intimidated by the shadow.  In this mystical dimension we can find
    the common experience which not only restores harmony but brings about
    unity.  He thus paved the way for dialogue with people of other faiths which
    he took up again at the Post-Seminar pilgrimage from Penang to Kuala
    Lumpur, culminating in an inter-faith dialogue at the Pure Life Society in
    Puchong.

    Besides these Conferences and 3 sessions of Meditation daily, the
    programme is also built in with Yoga and walking meditation at the break of
    dawn. These sessions are led by Giovanni Felicioni who teaches Yoga in
    London.  He made yoga fun with his great sense of humour.  Basically he
    wanted everyone to be aware of their body sensations and to enjoy the
    movements.  He said, “Movement is meant to be delicious; enjoy it.”  He
    taught them to let the movements arise, and not force them.  One
    participant expressed her view on yoga in her haiku (a form of Japanese
    poem of three lines that consists of 5, 7 and 5 syllables) “Towels on carpet,
    Giovanni demonstrating, bodies responding”.   

    This haiku and many others that were put on the board as the Retreat
    progressed showed the sentiment and insight of these participants as they
    moved about silently and listened to the sound of the waves that brought
    peace and harmony to their soul, and prepared them mentally to absorb
    “The Fire of Silence through Music and Mystics” and strengthened their
    bodies for the final part of the triple-event package – the Pilgrimage to
    Kuala Lumpur.

    80 participants made this “Coming Home” pilgrimage.  They visited several
    places of worship so that they had a “feel” of the practice of people of
    other faiths to prepare themselves for the finale “The Inter-faith dialogue”
    at the Pure Life Society.  They visited the Sleeping Buddha in Penang, St.
    Anne Church in Bukit Mertajam, Kek Lok Tong Cave Temple in Ipoh, Batu
    Caves in Selangor, and the National Mosque in K. Lumpur.   In Kuala Lumpur
    they retraced the places that Fr. John went like the Chan She Shu Yuan
    Temple in Chinatown where he learnt Hokkien, the Selangor Club
    overlooking the former State Secretariat where Fr. John would have
    worked, Birch Road where Fr. John might have stayed and finally to the
    Temple of the Eternal Spirit at Pure Life Society where Fr. John meditated
    with Swami Satyananda.  

    Fr. Laurence who had been to Malaysia many times, did not join the pilgrims
    in Kuala Lumpur but made his way to Bukit Nanas with Dr. Patricia Por, and
    Serena Woon to pay his respect to our Archbishop Murphy Pakiam.  He
    also presented to his Grace some of his books on Christian Meditation.   His
    Grace and Fr. Laurence Freeman talked and discussed various aspects of
    life in the Church, particularly the work of meditation.  After taking leave of
    his Grace, Fr. Laurence told Dr. Patricia and Serena that they have an
    understanding and loving shepherd and it is their responsibility to help him
    achieve the mission of the local church by introducing the practice of
    meditation to as many parishes as possible.


    Serena Wong
    August 2006
JOHN MAIN SEMINAR - PENANG, MALAYSIA, 2006
Margaret Rizza, Penang 2006
Mark Scofield and Christa Roodt, Malaysia 2006
Cultural Night - celebration at the John Mainīs Seminar 2006
Fr. Laurence & Margaret Rizza - Seminar 2006
Flowers for the Mass at the John Main Seminar, Penang 2006